Attorney General Eric Holder took questions on Tuesday on both the AP phone records case and the IRS and its targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

J. Scott Applewhite • Associated Press,

At a news conference Monday, President Obama addressed some of the controversies dogging his administration: Benghazi, the IRS and Justice’s collection of AP phone records.

Jacquelyn Martin • Associated Press,

Analysis: How damaged is Obama?

Article by: Dan Balz

Washington Post

May 14, 2013 - 11:13 PM

WASHINGTON - After answering questions Monday morning about two of the controversies that have undermined his administration, President Obama flew off to New York to raise money for the Democratic Party. There, before partisan donors, he reflected on his second term and said he would continue to reach out to the GOP. “I sure want to do some ­governing,” he explained.

Obama’s words suggest that he believes there is a way to compartmentalize the business of his second term — legislative and other business over here, scandals over there. But things are too messy for that right now. A politician who has counted good luck as part of his skill set will need all the breaks he can muster to pull off that bit of political jujitsu.

Even in the best of times, Obama’s outreach to Republicans produced little in return — and these are no longer close to the best of times. The question is whether the barely civil relationship between the White House and the opposition party has been irreparably damaged. A related question is the degree to which the controversies weaken Obama’s overall standing with the public. Together, the answers will decide how effectively he can govern.

It is too early to draw any broad conclusions about the long-term damage to Obama’s presidency from the combined effects of the news that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups and that the Justice Department collected two months of phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors. But in the moment, these controversies, along with the ongoing congressional probe into what happened in Benghazi, Libya, have created major challenges for the administration.

The president and his advisers have tried to insulate the White House from the actions of the IRS and the Justice Department, claiming ignorance on both counts. The IRS, officials argued Friday, is a quasi-independent agency. It took the president three days to express his ­outrage at the agency’s actions. As for the Justice Department’s leak investigation, White House officials said Monday night that it was a Justice Department decision that was not forwarded to the president.

Those are only temporary responses that probably will not be sufficient over time. The White House may have known nothing about either, but both are now the president’s problem. And both reflect questions about the administration that predate the revelations of the past few days.

The Tea Party movement has been a political nemesis for Obama since the first year of his presidency. The movement helped turn the battle over health care into one of the most divisive fights of his presidency. The political potency of the grass-roots activists who rallied behind Tea Party banners helped deliver the worst midterm defeat to a party ­holding the White House in 70 years.

The president and his advisers may not have known anything about IRS targeting of Tea Party groups, but the abuse of power confirmed complaints by conservatives and GOP lawmakers that the practice was taking place and impressions among conservatives that the administration is truly hostile to the Tea Party movement. Holding those responsible accountable will be only part of Obama’s challenge in responding.

Less is known about the Justice Department’s leak investigation. It was carried out by an administration that came into office talking about the importance of civil liberties, but whose record has been a disappointment to civil libertarians. No one can recall anything as sweeping as what the Justice Department did in secretly gathering information about the work of AP journalists.